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April 28, 2012

Well, this Sephora + Pantone Universe collection is the gift that keeps on giving. I fall head over heels in love with everything I try from the collection! If you haven't ordered anything yet, I do suggest you get at least one thing from the collection. Maybe the nail polish set?!?!! Anyway, today I have Sephora + Pantone Universe Tangerine Tango Matte and Tangerine Tango Glitter swatched for you! If you didn't see the creme and shimmer polishes, check them out here.

Now, I know some people are over the matte nail polish trend. I am not, nor will I ever be over this look. First of all, I love the way it looks. I like not always having a shiny finish. Secondly, I LOVE using matte polishes when I have no time for the usual base coat, 3 coats, top coat, wait for it all to dry routine. Sometimes, I have to just slap something on and go. Mattes are perfect for this because they dry so quickly. The inclusion of this matte Tangerine Tango was 75% of why I decided to order this polish set. The glitter was the other 25%. Tangerine Tango Matte is the same juicy red-orange shade as Tangerine Tango Creme, but it a lovely super fast-drying matte.

This may be the smoothest matte I have ever used. Look at the macro shot! So smooth looking!!! This polish also felt like a better texture than some mattes: less thick and chunky, more gel-like like the creme and shimmer polishes in this set. It dried super fast, of course, and this is three coats. I think you could easily get away with two coats. I do, however, recommend that you use a matte top coat (China Glaze Matte Magic, for example) as a base coat for this polish. Shiny base coats and matte polishes don't mix that well, but I think this beauty could stain without any base.

OMG.... Tangerine Tango Glitter may have just rocketed to my favorite polish of this set! GORGEOUS!! This is light mango-orange round glitter pieces and darker red-orange round glitter pieces in a clear base. Like Tangerine Tango Shimmer, I read reviews on this saying that it was a layering glitter only. So NOT TRUE! This is three coats and I think it looks HOTSKIES!

Ugh, just marry me already TT Glitter! As I said before, this is three coats. I did two coats using a normal three-stroke application method, and dabbed glitter in any bare spots for the third coat. I am really happy with the results here. If you'd rather layer this, I think this would look sick over a white creme or black for Halloween!

For $24, I got four polishes that I really love. I am quite pleased with this set, actually more pleased than I thought I would be. If you love orange, you should check this set out. If you don't love orange, this is probably not the collection for you. Hopefully, Sephora will collaborate with Pantone Universe again next year and orange-haters can rejoice in a collection inspired by another color!

The Sephora + Pantone Universe Nail Enamel Set is available now at Sephora.com.

April 26, 2012

I hate to do a 4-piece collection in two parts, but I really want to get these posted and have been super busy lately!! You already know that I loved the Sephora + Pantone Universe lip gloss set and Apricot Brandy blush. The nail polish set is a lot like the lip gloss set. It features four polishes in the color of the year, Tangerine Tango, in four different finishes (creme, shimmer, matte, and glitter!). So, today I have Sephora + Pantone Universe Tangerine Tango Creme and Tangerine Tango Shimmer for your viewing pleasure.

Tangerine Tango Shimmer is a gorgeous bright orange shimmer with a hint of pink duochrome shimmer that I couldn't quite capture. If you look at the bottle in person, you will see the flash of pink. It does show up on the nail, apparently just not on my camera. I read some reviews of this on Sephora.com stating that this polish was too sheer to use alone, so I was a little nervous to try it!!

This is three coats, and while there is a little VNL, this is kind of a jelly finish shimmer, so I see NO reason why this can't be worn alone. I LOVE IT alone!!! It's all squishy and reminds me of those jelly shoes I used to have when I was a kid. I had the sparkly kind, of course. The formula of this kind of reminded me of the Cult Nails formula. It felt like a gel going on, rather than a liquid. In my opinion, this is a great formula. It makes controlling the polish super easy. There is no risk of this polish pooling or running into your cuticles.

Tangerine Tango Creme is a vibrant, really bright but not neon red-orange creme. This is the perfect color for summer, and one of my favorite colors to wear on my nails. I am running to put this on my toes immediately upon finishing this post. This creme finish is lovely and smooth-looking too.

I used three coats of TT Creme, but I'd wear just two coats. It was pretty opaque and even at just two coats. (Sometimes I do three, because the macro lens makes things see-through). This also felt like a light gel and again, I found that made it quite easy to apply.

Overall, I love the color and formula of both of these polishes. I am really pleased with them. You never know how polishes from a collection like this will be, but I think they are fabulous. If you are an orange lover (like me!), you'll die over these. I can't wait to try the other two!! By the way, I neglected to take a picture of the packaging, but it looks just like the lip gloss set packaging, so, totally awesome.

Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year Nail Enamel Set is available now at Sephora.com. At $24 for four polishes, I think it's a good deal too!

April 24, 2012

By now you all know I have a raging Lynnderella obsession. Sometime in March, I was invoiced for two Lynnderellas, Forget You Not and Change. Let me tell you, I have never been so happy to Paypal someone! I decided to wear Lynnderella Forget You Not for the first time on Sunday night. OMG. When I finished this mani, I started singing "I just died in your arms tonight" at the top of my lungs. No joke. (Oddly enough, I then heard that song on the radio while driving to work on Monday!)

This is two coats of China Glaze Agent Lavender as a base, with two coats of Lynnderella Forget You Not. Forget You Not is a amazing combination of light purple/periwinkle hex glitter (large and small), round glitter (also large and small), some random translucent yellow glitter, and very fine hot pink shimmer. The below picture gives you a good idea of some of the glitter pieces in this polish. In some lights, the hot pink shimmer shows up, in others, it looks kind of speckle-y like it does here. Either way, I am in love with this polish.

I would say that Forget You Not is my favorite Lynnderella, except that every time I put a Lynnderella on, I say it's my favorite. I think I am going to wear this again very soon, but over Essie Smooth Sailing and with a layer of matte top coat. If it looks awesome (it probably will), I will definitely share pics. What other polishes would you use under this beauty?

By the way, if you're wondering how to get your hands on some Lynnderellas, Leah Ann from Shop Llarowe posted on the Llarowe Facebook wall that they would be accepting new wish lists soon. They will also be doing regular orders on the website eventually, but they won't be telling us when the polishes are posted for sale. So, doing it that way will just be the luck of when you happen to check the website. I am probably going to stick with the wish list method myself. I think it's working pretty well. Definitely sign up for email updates on Llarowe's site if you're interested in sending in a new wish list. I have heard rumors that there will be NEW Lynnderella polishes on the new wish lists!! Gasp!!!

April 22, 2012

I followed the whole process of the Rescue Beauty Lounge Fan Collection pretty intensely. When Ji announced her plans for a fan-created collection, I even thought about entering an idea I've had floating around my head for awhile. But, I'm actually glad that I sat back and enjoyed the voting process, finding out who the winners were, etc. Altogether, it was a fun experience for Rescue Beauty Lounge lovers!! The collection was available for pre-order a few weeks ago, and I snapped up Rescue Beauty Lounge IKB:2012, as well as Aqua Lily.

IKB:2012 is a super bright, vibrant electric blue jelly. This polish was inspired by Yves Klein's signature International Klein Blue color. I think RBL did an excellent job of bringing this color to life. Check out these Google Images of "International Klein Blue". Perfect match.

I mentioned that this polish is super bright and I think it actually has some neon pigment in it. It dries sort of like a neon, not matte, but definitely not glossy. With one layer of top coat, however, it becomes super shiny and even more gorgeous.

I used three coats of IKB:2012 for these pictures. I think I did really need the third coat, as this polish is a jelly. It dries VERY quickly though, so it wasn't a hassle to do three coats. Overall, I am in LOVE with IKB:2012. I have heard people compare this with Orly Royal Navy, but I don't remember Royal Navy being this bright. I will have to find my bottle and compare the two for you.

Rescue Beauty Lounge IKB:2012 should be on sale at rescuebeauty.com sometime this coming week. I suggest to subscribe to their email list to stay informed.

OPI walked the aisle at New York International Bridal Week on fingers and toes at both the Vera Wang and Angel Sanchez showcases. On Sunday, April 15, models complemented their Vera Wang gowns with OPI nail lacquer in Did You ‘Ear About Van Gogh? on fingers and toes. This new sandy neutral shade offers an updated take on the classic nude look.

Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh?

On Monday, April 16, designer Angel Sanchez showcased his latest bridal designs with OPI nail lacquer in I Don’t Give a Rotterdam! on models’ fingers and OPI nail lacquer in Bubble Bath on their toes. I Don’t Give a Rotterdam! is a shimmery steel blue shade, perfect for brides looking for a unique “something blue” to wear on their wedding day. Bubble Bath is a bestselling pale pink that’s long been a bridal staple for soft, feminine color.

April 19, 2012

A few weeks ago I went to get my nails done with some girls from dance. I rarely get my nails done, as I find that I do a better job than most local nail techs and I also have a better color selection than most local nail salons (LMAO). When I do get my nails done at a salon though, I try to pick colors I don't own so that I can find new polishes to buy test out different colors. At this recent trip, I narrowed my choices down to Essie Smooth Sailing, Essie Braziliant, and Essie Fifth Avenue. I ended up picking Fifth Avenue, a bright juicy corally red orange. But, I couldn't stop thinking about Smooth Sailing and Braziliant (both from Essie's Summer 2011 collection)! So I did the natural thing for a polish hoarder- I ordered them that evening from Apothica.com.

Today I'm showing you Essie Smooth Sailing, a gorgeous deep cornflower blue with lots of silver shimmer. Now that I own this, I have NO CLUE why I didn't buy it when it came out. What was I thinking? This is gorgeous and I adore it.

This is only two coats and the formula was lovely. I was expecting it to be more sheer, I think. I have a weird relationship with Essie polishes. I never seem to buy them, but I LOVE the ones I have. Some of my most-worn polishes are Essie! Like my favorite toe color, Essie Mini Shorts (I'm going to need to hunt down another bottle!).

Bottom line here is that I need to pay more attention to Essie! Stop ignoring them, and buy the gems they come out with right away. I can't wait to swatch Braziliant, I know I'm going to LOVE it.

April 17, 2012

Today I am showing you the last of the four AEngland Legends I purchased, AEngland Ascalon. Like the other three, Ascalon is a dream to apply. I only needed two coats of this beauty for full coverage.

The AEngland description of Ascalon is pretty intense, so I'm going to repost it here: "Forged by magic and guided by our hero's sainted hand, the steely grey of his spire is alive with a swirling heart of lavender fire." In other words, Ascalon is a steely grey holo with a pinky lavender duochrome flash.

Ascalon indoors

When I put Ascalon on and looked at it indoors, I thought "pretty". When I walked outside to take pictures, I thought "JHFWENAADJKKJKIOJNEYU!!!!!!!!" If you own this and you haven't ever viewed it in direct sunlight, go do it NOW!!!! If you don't own this, order it immediately and wear it to the next outdoor event you attend on a sunny day. You will die when you see it in the sun. OMG. Intense holographic effect PLUS duochrome!! I just passed out. Unfortunately, the duochrome in this lovely polish photographs as a kind of cloudy effect on the nail. You can see what I mean in the picture below. It looks like there is a cloudy film on the polish. In real life, I saw a lot of strong lavender/pink flash when I took this picture.

Ok, I'm back. Ascalon is available on AEngland's website, I do suggest you purchase it and wear it outdoors in the sun. That is all.

April 16, 2012

Have you ever come across a polish that you didn't really like based on swatches and pictures you saw online, but then you LOVED it in person? Every so often, this happens to me. China Glaze Liquid Crystal is one of those polishes!! The China Glaze Prismatic collection was weird for me. When I saw promo pictures, I was all psyched for it. Then I saw swatches and really didn't care. I didn't end up buying any of them.

However, the awesome Heather from Peace, Love, & Polish sent me China Glaze Liquid Crystal as a thank you for doing that guest post on her blog! When I put it on this morning, I immediately knew I was wrong about the Prismatic collection. Liquid Crystal is a really pretty blue shimmer base with a slight purple/pink duochrome shift. This alone is pretty, but then China Glaze packed in multi-colored glitter!! I see pink, orange, silver, green and gold glitter pieces. Let me clarify: Multi-colored glitter. In a blue/purple/pink duochrome base. WHY did I think I didn't want this????

However, this doesn't look that cool in my pictures!! It's just one of those polishes that looks WAY better in real life. But, it has me wondering, which other Prismatic polishes do I need now? I think maybe Optical Illusion and Raydiant. Do you have any of these? What do you think of them?

The China Glaze Prismatic collection is available now at an Ulta near you.

April 14, 2012

I heard that Sephora was collaborating with Pantone Universe for a color of the year collection quite awhile ago. Being a color nerd who always waits to hear the "color of the year", this made me SUPER excited. However, I wasn't prepared for how seriously fabulous this collection turned out. Part of the attraction for me is that the color of the year is Tangerine Tango and orange has been a favorite color of mine for YEARS! Orange make-up is also pretty flattering on me. There really isn't an orange make-up item I won't try.

Now, here's the fun part! I was going to skip the lip gloss set because I already own 9 million lip glosses, but I won it in a giveaway over on Best Things In Beauty!!! Yay!!! Let me tell you I am SO glad I did! Above you can see the lip gloss in it's packaging. The packaging for this collection is really nice by the way. I love the box covers with all of the Pantone color chips. The lip gloss set contains four Tangerine Tango glosses in four different finishes, all for a mere $20.

This is the Prisma Chrome Blush in Apricot Brandy ($16). I bought this because: A. Apricot Brandy sounds delish. B. I am a blush ho. C. It had a really cool pattern on the product itself. Again, I am SO glad I bought this!!

Here are swatches of Apricot Brandy in sunlight. That's a heavy swatch on the left and then blended out on the right. This can definitely be tailored to your skin color, see how light and glowy the right swatch is? Apricot Brandy is a gorgeous, pigmented shimmering apricot color. I wore it yesterday and several people told me I looked nice and one person even said I looked tan. LOL, tan?? Me?? For reference, my arm is probably about a MAC NC15 right now.

OMG this gloss set is amazing! Left to right in these pictures are Tangerine Tango Luminous, Tangerine Tango Vivid, Tangerine Tango Glaze, and Tangerine Tango Opal. The above picture is in sunlight, below is indoors in lower light. If you are afraid of orange or just any bright lip colors, there are still some wearable glosses in this set. The Glaze and Opal finishes could work on any skin tone/color. The Glaze is a very sheer hint of peach kind of gloss that I know I will reach for daily. Opal is a cool subtle duochrome-like finish that actually looks more sheer and wearable on the lips.

Below is one more sunlight shot because these are so pretty! The Luminous finish is a bit more pigmented than Glaze and Opal, and has very pretty shimmer. Finally, Vivid is exactly that- a very vivid creme finish gloss with full pigmentation. This one may be scary for some people, but I think the gloss set is still worth it for $20.

I tried Vivid on first and LOVE IT SO MUCH IT HURTS!!! Behold, a lip swatch:

I apparently applied this in the dark or something though because I missed a whole bunch of my bottom lip. Who does that? But I just noticed it when I went to crop the pictures, so sorry about that! Awesome color though.

Based on these two items, the Sephora + Pantone Universe collection is a massive hit. I can't believe I was going to skip the gloss set. Stupid. I also purchased the set of four nail polishes (duh.), so you'll be seeing that soon too! Big thanks to Charleston Girl at Best Things In Beauty for giving away the lip gloss set and picking me as the winner!! I REALLY hope that Sephora and Pantone decide to collaborate every year. I think that would be amazing, and I know I would be interested in future collections!

The Sephora + Pantone Universe Collection is available now at Sephora.com.